Honda Generator Tri-Fuel Conversion

[MudDog]

Has anyone installed this Tri-Fuel conversion kit for a Honda EU2000i?

Would love to be able to run the generator off the TM LP tanks or Natural Gas at home and still be able to run off gasoline when needed, but it seems in everything else you give up something for flexibility.

Anyone have any experience with this (or a similar) kit?

[MudDog]

I went ahead and ordered the kit and received it yesterday.

Install was pretty simple:

1) remove 1 bolt and two nuts to lift out the air cleaner assembly. Remove the gasket between air filter and carb.

2) Remove the plastic cap and electrical connector from the top of the existing carb and lift it out over the two bolts.

3) Put in the replacement carb and re-connect the electrical connector at the top and replace the plastic cap. Replace the gasket between the new carb and air filter.

4) Connect the propane hose with the supplied fitting to the small lp supply hose coming out of the top of the new carb

5) Drill a 3/4 hole below the access door for the lp hose to pass thru.

6) Cut the existing gasoline supply line and install the supplied shut-off valve to shut-off fuel when running on lp/natural gas

7) Drill a couple of small holes to mount the low pressure regulator on the access door

8) Connect a tank with a high-pressure (BBQ) regulator to the inlet fitting on the high pressure regulator.


To run on gasoline, you turn on the new fuel shut-off valve and start as normal.

To run on lp or natural gas, you shutoff the gasoline valve, connect to the lp/nat gas supply, press the prime button on the back of the low pressure regulator and start the engine as normal.

Initially it wouldn't start on lp, but I followed the instructions to adjust the load-block on the regulator and now it starts right up and runs smooth.


We normally don't go thru LP fast - so figure we'll always have one of the two tanks on the TM that we can use for the generator.

Will post once we've used it more, but so far I'm happy with the kit (though I just voided the mfg warranty on my brand new generator... )

[ShrimpBurrito]

Thanks for the installation report and picture. I'll be interested in hearing reports on your experience with it.

I don't have a generator, but have thought about getting one for earthquake preparedness. Since gasoline doesn't store very long, and I wouldn't use the genny on a regular basis, I always thought I would convert it to LP if I bought one since LP can be stored virtually indefinitely. I had checked out that conversion kit, and in fact I think it's the only one sold as such for that generator, and heard it worked well.

One thing that seems like it might be annoying: keeping the low pressure regulator mounted on the generator. It sounds like you have to remove screws to pull it off, which is not very convenient. I wonder why they don't use a 2-stage regulator instead, similar to what's on the TM, and have it on the end of the hose that connects to the tank.

Dave

[MudDog]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

One thing that seems like it might be annoying: keeping the low pressure regulator mounted on the generator. It sounds like you have to remove screws to pull it off, which is not very convenient. I wonder why they don't use a 2-stage regulator instead, similar to what's on the TM, and have it on the end of the hose that connects to the tank.

Yeah, I'm a bit annoyed by that as well

The Garretson KN demand regulator seems to be pretty popular for these type of conversions. With it on the access door, I'm going to have to be pretty careful when transporting and moving it.

There's spacers between the accesss door and the back of the regulator so you can get your finger in between to press the prime button. It probably should be mounted to something to prevent the primer from accidentally being depressed.

It could probably be mounted to a flat piece of 6" x 6" plywood or aluminum with the spacers to prevent accidental priming and then mount some hooks or straps to the whole thing so it could hang off the tank handles (that way it is still easy to move from tank to tank). Then add a easier disconnect on the hose between the regulator and the generator.....Hmmmm...may look into that.

Originally Posted by MudDog

It could probably be mounted to a flat piece of 6" x 6" plywood or aluminum with the spacers to prevent accidental priming and then mount some hooks or straps to the whole thing so it could hang off the tank handles (that way it is still easy to move from tank to tank). Then add a easier disconnect on the hose between the regulator and the generator.....Hmmmm...may look into that.

This would be a good solution if you can make it work.

If not, you could try to find a hard plastic box or lid about the size of the access door and about the thickness of the regulator body and cut it to fit as a guard. This way if there were any bumping going on, it wouldn't be directly on the regulator. Plastic would be pretty easy to work with for the cutting and shaping. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would serve the purpose until you figure out a more permanent solution.

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Thanks for the installation report and picture. I'll be interested in hearing reports on your experience with it.

I don't have a generator, but have thought about getting one for earthquake preparedness. Since gasoline doesn't store very long, and I wouldn't use the genny on a regular basis, I always thought I would convert

Same here. I've been following this thread with interest to see how this pans out.

Not sure about earthquakes (we don't many of those in south LA), but during hurricanes, gasoline is a very hard commodity to come by for weeks afterward. Thus my interest in alternative gen fuels.
I'm considering a larger natural gas gen just for the house for this purpose (probably NOT a good idea for earthquakes), but being able to use a kit like this as well would be handy, not only for emergency situations, but with the TM as well. I just wish it was a bit easier to take on and off when/if needed.

Although not a cheap solution by any means, but since many seem to eventually own/use two of the 2000's, you could add the kit to one only. This way you could use the standard unit for most things, but have the tri-fuel unit ready to go if needed. You could ultimately still parallel the two as long as you were running both on gas.

[MudDog]

Disaster Preparedness was defenitely an additional reason/execuse for getting it and converting it.

We have 2 propane tanks for the BBQ (nothing worse than running out in the middle of cooking a steak) and 2 for the TM - so normally at least two of the 4 would be full.

My fireplace has a natural gas pipe for gas logs. I'm thinking I could potentially Tee into that pipe and install a valve and a capped stub on the outside of the wall. If we had an extended outage I could remove the cap and open the valve and run on nat gas long enough to get me thru even extended outages.

The gas lines normally hold up pretty well in an earthquake unless you are right in the epicenter. If it's a big enough quake, there are almost always regional power disruptions because of the domino effect of one section of the grid going down....and with no electric, you can't buy gasoline or other fuels easily.

I'll probably leave the regulator as is for a few uses and see how it goes. If it's getting jarred around too much I'll look into the backerboard strapped to the tank or your idea (thanks!) of fashioning some kind of cover.


--jim